Do You Know What Today Is?

A little Tony Toni Tone humor. This post is about our huge, lavish, extravagant, magnificent anniversary show! On February 3, we are streaming a show from one of our homes away from homes- AM Studios. We've recorded most of our LP and EP here, and some new stuff you'll hear this year. (We'll be playing the new stuff at the show.)

Some of you lucky people will get invited to party on-site with us, Devlin Miles, Melanie Edwards, Shelley Nicole's blakbushe, food and beverages. But if you can't make it, you can watch online for the price of $whatever you want. Seriously. Pay what you want via paypal and get the link. And you can send questions and song requests to all 4 acts on Timebomb's FB and Twitter pages. The whole thing will be hosted by Ms. P and Kevin Murray. And of course, we must thank our sponsors AM Studios and BoCoCa Arts Festival!

End of the Year, or "Wrap It Up, B!"

So, the entire band has been working on new songs- together, individually, and with other people. You can hear some of the new material TONIGHT at Kenny's Castaways, if you live in New York. (If you don't live in NY and want to see us live, we've got something for you. More on that later.) Tonight will be our last show for 2011. We're taking a little time off to finish all these new songs, and rest up a little and spend time with the families. It's been a crazy busy year.

Besides all the new material, we've been working internationally. BR did a track with our friend Bfromlu, a producer and blogger from France who just moved to Montreal. The track is called "Gladiator Matador" and it's the first single from Bfromlu's new EP, "Lights On," available November 15. The rest of the band spent all day Sunday recording with Karnage's friend Lauri Shaw, a singer from New York now making a name for herself in London. (We've got photos from the session up on our Facebook page.)

Like we said, it's been a crazy busy year. We've had the best of times- playing at Tribeca Performing Arts Center for the first time; heading to Chicago to play the Elbo Room for the second year; third year working with the BoCoCa Arts Festival; second year rocking the Atlantic Antic Festival. And we've had some rough times- missing a gig when we broke down on the NJ Turnpike; equipment malfunctions in Union Square Park; getting rained out for outdoor gigs, etc. It's not easy going the independent route, but it's worth the risk and the work.

As for that opportunity for fans outside NYC, we're planning a HUGE event in February to celebrate nine years of BR and Timebomb where we'll be webcasting from AM Studios, our second home for almost all nine. A couple of our friends have signed up to join us- Devlin Miles, Melanie Edwards and Shelley Nicole's Blakbushe. We'll have more info for you on that one soon.

Fallin' Up

So the Timebombs hit Pennsylvania this past Saturday for the first time in two years (!) and had a great time. We played Gryphon Cafe in Wayne, a coffee house with great food and some really fantastic art on the walls. We thought we'd have to play kinda quiet, but management gave us full permission to rock out. And so we did. We met some great folks at Gryphon, including a dude wearing a "Brooklyn" shirt, Sherman from Bed-Stuy.

Saturday was also the inaugural launch of our tour van (or Timebomobile, if you will). Big thanks go to the Beattys for this one. It runs great, and it's got our pictures wrapped along the sides...

Next up, we've got two big shows back in Brooklyn: we're back in front of Linger Cafe for the Atlantic Antic October 2 for the second year in a row. And October 23, we are providing entertainment (and sound) for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Out of the Darkness Walk in Cadman Plaza Park. This is an important issue that needs more attention and BRTB is glad to be a part of that effort.

BR and Timebomb and Max Burgundy at the Bitter End 8/20/11

A blog called "The Joy of Violent Movement" covered our show at The Bitter End with Max Burgundy:

The Joy of Violent Movement

Photos. Music. Musings. Assorted wanderings and pop detrius from a freelance editor, music journalist, photographer, New York Yankee, New York Giant and New York Ranger fan. Twitter: www.twitter.com/yankee32879 e-mail: yankee32879@yahoo.com

BR and Timebomb and Max Burgundy

August 20, 2011

Play almost any song from Nas’ Illmatic, Black Moon’s Enta Da Stage, Snoop Doggy Dogg’s Doggystyle or any album of that stature at a hip hop show and you’ll see hip hop fans of all ages faithfully rhyming along to the song as though they had personally written the lyrics down years ago in a notebook. But the current state of mainstream hip hop is something that countless fans have lamented over for well over a decade. It would seem that for many hip hop fans the murders of 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Freaky Tah, Jam Master Jay and the death of the O.D.B. have irrevocably altered the creative landscape, perhaps for the worse.... Read the rest @ thejoyofviolentmovement.tumblr.com

What's Happening Now?

We've had a busy, exciting summer so far. Excitement isn't always good, but most of the time it is. Read on...

We played an outdoor party July 9 for the Rutgers Houses on the Lower East Side. Great event all around. This was our second time working with DJ Rocksteady, who we met last month at the benefit for Immigrant Social Services. There were some performances of traditional Chinese songs and dance early in the day, barbecues for the residents, and us. We had a great time, picked up some new fans, etc. Also really enjoyed checking out ALB, All Legal Business, an emcee collective from uptown.

Then we got on the road for our second show in Ardmore, PA, at the Nail. Never made it. One of our cars died on the NJ Turnpike, and we sat at an autobody shop in NJ until about 1am. We're sorry we missed that show, but it could've been worse. Nobody got hurt, and the mechanics were pretty cool people. Shouts to Stacy Sr. for helping us get back home.

Last week, we filmed the 50th episode of "Minding Your Business," with June Middleton, on Manhattan Neighborhood Network (cable access in NYC). June and her crew are fantastic, and we were honored to work with them again, especially for this show! It airs in August.

This past Saturday was the first Bed-Stuy Live! Music Festival. We talked about it in our last post. Playing outdoors during our record-breaking heat wave was a challenge, for sure. Definitely enjoyed checking out the other acts. Shout outs to People's Champs, Rain of Kings, etc., as well as Karnage and Sanctum for making it happen.

We got a couple more outdoor shows coming up, one with Swift Technique! Hope it's under 100 degrees for those. Then, we're back at the legendary Bitter End August 20. Stay cool.

Right About Now...

When we left off, our fearless intrepid adventurers were preparing for BoCoCa Outdoors at Carroll Park. And they did not disappoint! When we say we've got a killer line-up, we mean it. Devlin Miles opened up the show and got everyone, including the bocce players, to pay attention. You can see some great footage of her set on Youtube and Brooklynfans.com. Ganessa and Tiffany James were up next. They've been a Timebomb favorite for years now and they amazed the Carroll Park crowd. Then Swift Technique stepped up and crushed the game. There is footage from the show of a man who walks with a cane dancing through their entire set. Finally, we did what we do. Again, you can catch parts of the show on Youtube if you weren't fortunate enough to be there. We invited Swift Technique's horn players up to do "Time Is Now" with us. Stacy and Karnage did the totem pole. We performed all the hits and some newer songs. Good times.

But that's not all. Nope, we do more than just music. Shanelle taught a basketball clinic for the kids. BR, Olivia, Shanelle AND her mom ran an art class. Jibrail played drums for Devlin and Ganessa (and did another show later that night). Stacy made sure we never ran out of power. And we have to give a HUGE thanks to Illard Scottt for sound; Eileen and Don and everyone at the BoCoCa Arts Festival; all of the vendors who helped make the event possible; Coca-Cola for donating cases of their Illy coffee drink; the volunteers; and everyone who came out.

We should also mention that Karnage is working on a lot of things besides Timebomb music. His hardcore band, Shakuan, has been playing all over NYC. He's been putting on Rockadelic shows with our brothers in Sound Frontier and Rain of Kings. And Karnage and his partner Sanctum are producing the first Bed-Stuy Live! Music Festival on July 23 in Von King Park, Brooklyn. The line-up includes People's Champs, the Rosa Hyde Quintet, Rain of Kings, BR and Timebomb, Illard Scott and many more!

Stay tuned. This summer will be legendary.

The Future Is Ours!

A lot has happened since the last post. Sorry, we been doing stuff. We hit the Lincoln Memorial May 13 with the Grey Area and Illard Scott. We brought the sun out, and then the cops kicked us out, 30 minutes early. Met some cool people from the DMV who we've been talking to on twitter (@brandtimebomb) and we all grabbed some food down in Chinatown before heading back to NY.

Played a benefit back in Bklyn at Linger Cafe for the Guild for Exceptional Children and a fundraiser block party for Immigrant Social Services in Chinatown, both with the homey Illard Scott. We helped raise money for two great causes, met some new fans, and picked up some more shows in the process.

We've got a lot coming up this summer and you can see all the dates here. Our 2nd annual BoCoCa Outdoors at Carroll Park is in a little over a week and we've got a killer line-up: Devlin Miles, Ganessa James, Swift Technique and us. The night before, we'll be at CineMart Space 17 in Tribeca.

Can you count, suckas? Sorry, that's rude. How about, can you dig it?

We're Focused, Man!

So much is going on with the 'Bomb right now. We had a great rehearsal last night with Illard Scott to get ready for our Lincoln Memorial show on May 14. We're backing him up before we do our set and he brought a new song. Nailed it!

On Friday, Jibrail was an extra in The Grey Area's music video. They're opening for us at the Lincoln Memorial, and they came to NYC to shoot their video and play the Bitter End. They did a great job on both.

Shanelle just came home from DC and South Carolina, visiting friends and family and spreading the word about BRTB. We hear she met some radio station folks...

BR has also been an enterprising young man. His mixtape with Illard Scott, "Unite and Conquer," is almost done. We listened to previews on the way to Chicago and it bumps. Features production by Jibrail and a few guests from overseas, and verses from big brother Karnage.

As if that wasn't enough, we've been getting some airplay! DJ Apatt has played "King" on his biweekly show on party934.com. Big shouts to them and everyone listening!